Potentially some good news on the Chris Taylor front.
Reporting from the Winter Meetings in San Diego, sources have told Adam Rubin that the Mets have had discussions with the Seattle Mariners about both of their young shortstops — Taylor and Brad Miller. Some reports have suggested that Seattle may keep both of them, playing Taylor at short and Miller in the outfield, but I think that’s just a smoke screen and one of them will get dealt this offseason.
As I’ve pointed out a few times already, the Mets need to address their prolonged lack of production from the leadoff spot, that much is true. I took a look at some of the different options out there, many of which have already been discussed on MMO, and. I’ve come to the conclusion that the best course of action for the Mets is to try and work out a trade for Taylor.
The Mets have had the MLB’s worst leadoff production over the last two seasons, and it’s time for Sandy Alderson to take a more aggressive approach to resolving this issue. We have to stop this annual focus on players best suited to bat 5th or 6th and finally get a true leadoff hitter who can ignite this offense and give our middle-of-the-order bats some additional RBI opportunities – opportunities that have been too scant over the last few seasons.
I feel strongly that Chris Taylor could be exactly what this team needs right now. While Miller is the name that’s often mentioned when discussing a potential deal with the Mariners, Taylor is the player who actually addresses a variety of Mets needs.
Taylor’s .347 OBP in his short MLB stint puts any of the Mets’ current leadoff options to shame, and I believe it was only the tip of the iceberg for this young and talented player. His on-base percentage over a three year minor league career is a robust .407 in 1,183 plate appearances over five different levels, but he brings more to the table than his excellent on-base skills.
Taylor has always been considered a better overall defensive shortstop than Miller, and after he was promoted he dazzled in the field showing superior range, soft hands and an above average arm. Scouts initially tabbed Taylor as glove-only utility infielder because he had no plus tools on offense aside from some speed, but that is now obviously debatable.
Taylor, 23, confounded the experts and hit his way to a major league debut last July, and eventually wrestled the everyday shortstop job away from Miller. A 5th round pick from the 2012 draft, he batted .287/.347/.346 in his first 151 plate appearances in the big leagues. He has no big home run power to speak of, but can spray the ball gap to gap and some expect him to be a 35 doubles, 10 homer producer at the plate.
Last month, Jim Bowden of ESPN.com predicted that the Mets and Mariners will eventually get together on a trade this offseason that would send either Taylor or Miller to Flushing in exchange for one of Dillon Gee, Jon Niese or Bartolo Colon. And two weeks ago, an MLB executive and an agent told Adam Rubin that the two teams matched up well for a trade.
Steamer projects that Chris Taylor will bat .261/.323/..354 in 2015 with 27 doubles, 5 homers, 62 RBI, and a 2.9 fWAR. I think that’s a very conservative projection. The bottom line is that when you combine all that Taylor brings to the table both offensively and defensively, and compare that to our primary needs, Taylor appears to be the best option for the Mets – head and shoulders above anyone else.
